[00:00.00] Chapter 9.
[00:01.60] Kathy's child.
[00:04.62] Nothing was heard of Isabella and Heathcliff for two months.
[00:10.02] During that time, Kathy was very ill with a brain fever.
[00:16.02] She recovered, but Dr. Kenneth had warned us that she would never be the same again.
[00:24.62] All her old spirit had gone, and she lay pale and listless for weeks on end.
[00:34.11] By now, all the household knew that she was going to have a baby, and we did our best to let her know how much we looked forward to the event.
[00:49.46] But nothing we said or did brought back the sparkle to her eye, or even a faint gleam of interest.
[00:59.56] During this time, I had a letter from Isabella.
[01:05.78] Her life at Wuthering Heights, she wrote, was dreadful.
[01:12.89] Is Heathcliff man or devil? the letter asked.
[01:20.95] The news she gave me of Hindley was also bad.
[01:26.30] He drank and gambled and had lost the house to Heathcliff in a card game.
[01:33.75] Now he roamed about the place with a loaded pistol in his pocket, waiting, he said, for a chance to shoot his tormentor.
[01:47.58] Although, wrote Isabella, I doubt that he will ever find the courage to do so.
[01:59.26] In this, she was right.
[02:03.02] The next news I had from the heights was of the death of Hindley, who died without recovering even a small part of his rightful inheritance.
[02:19.59] Then word reached me that Isabella had run away.
[02:25.16] But where she went, I never discovered.
[02:32.22] Of Heathcliff, I heard nothing, but often thought that I saw him late at night, standing amongst the trees in the Parkland of the Grange, watching Kathy's window.
[02:47.30] I dismissed this as fancy on my part.
[02:52.54] But, on the night that little Catherine was born, something drew him closer to the house, and I saw him clear enough.
[03:04.15] He looked frightful, as though he had not slept in days.
[03:14.44] Despite his wicked ways, I felt sorry for him and went out to him as soon as I could.
[03:23.44] Tell me, Nelly, he said, what has happened?
[03:31.45] The child is born, I told him, but Kathy is dead.
[03:38.84] My master scarcely left his room after the death of Kathy, and I took over the care of little Catherine, just as I had taken care of Hareton.
[03:51.78] The next 12 years were the happiest of my life.
[03:58.35] She was the most winning thing that ever brought sunshine to a desolate house, mild and gentle as a dove, and with none of her mother's wild ways about her.
[04:12.21] Until she was 13, she had not gone beyond the Parkland that surrounded the Grange.
[04:21.34] She had no idea that Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff existed, but she longed to explore the Moors, and constantly asked me for stories about the places where her mother had played as a child, places such as Penniston Crags, and the fairy cave.
[04:42.49] Then, one day, she was nowhere to be found.
[04:50.03] I wondered the grounds, asking all I met if they had seen her.
[04:57.61] At last, I got my answer.
[05:01.98] Why, she lept her pony over the hedge and galloped away, said a laborer who was mending a fence.
[05:11.27] He might, I thought, have been talking about Kathy, my dead mistress.
[05:19.42] The little minx, thought I, then fell to wondering if perhaps her mother's nature was coming out in her after all.
[05:30.19] I made my way as fast as I could along the path which led over the Moors, but there was no sign of her, although I looked about me constantly as I went.
[05:42.83] At last, I reached Wuthering Heights.
[05:48.35] You'll be looking for your little mistress, said the servant who let me in.
[05:55.56] She's here, safe and sound, but thank goodness that the master wasn't at home.
[06:06.28] And there she was, sitting contentedly in a little rocking chair, which had belonged to her mother.
[06:16.68] Well, miss, I said, this is your last ride until your father returns.
[06:24.77] He was away on business, but was expected back the next day.
[06:30.32] To go stealing off like this, it shows what a cunning little fox you are.
[06:43.18] This caused the tears to flow, for I was rarely strict with her.
[06:48.99] Indeed, I scarcely had reason ever to speak to her harshly.
[06:57.83] Don't be hard on her, said the servant.
[07:03.44] She was going to ride back straight away, but I thought it best that Hareton went with her, and she was waiting for him to come from the fields.
[07:17.38] Hareton, during all this, stood with his hands in his pockets, too awkward to speak.
[07:26.58] I took Catherine's hat from its hook on the wall.
[07:31.67] Come, miss, I said, let's be on our way.
[07:39.90] But to spite me for my hard words perhaps, she darted away from me.
[07:47.45] The servant and Hareton laughed.
[07:51.60] Feeling foolish, I snatched at her arm and made her stand still.
[07:56.70] Well, Miss Catherine, I told her, if you knew whose house this is, you would be glad to get away.
[08:06.88] It's your father's, isn't it? asked Catherine, turning to Hareton.
[08:13.45] Hareton blushed scarlet and mumbled, "No."
[08:18.68] Oh, you must be a servant, said Catherine.
[08:23.57] Very well then, fetch my horse.
[08:27.53] She turned back to me.
[08:30.38] I suppose that you're right and we should leave.
[08:34.83] Then seeing that Hareton made no move, she said, "Well, go."
[08:40.57] What are you waiting for?
[08:44.88] I'll see you damned before I'll be your servant, said Hareton.
[08:52.75] You'll see me what? asked Catherine in surprise.
[08:58.95] Damned, you saucy witch, said Hareton.
[09:04.84] Nelly, cried Catherine, how dare he speak to me like that?
[09:11.69] He must be made to do what I say, or I'll tell Papa.
[09:16.82] Hareton did not appear to be much bothered by this threat.
[09:24.62] You bring my pony then, she said, turning to the woman.
[09:29.40] Softly, miss, said the servant.
[09:34.01] You'll lose nothing by being polite.
[09:39.28] And although Hareton here may not be the master's son, he is kin to you.
[09:47.40] He's your cousin.
[09:50.94] He's not.
[09:54.49] He's not, cried Catherine, flinging herself into my arms, and eager enough now to leave the house.
[10:04.96] We made our way home, sadly out of sorts.
[10:12.26] But I couldn't get any details out of my little lady of how she had spent the day.
[10:20.64] She had managed to reach Penniston Crags, and from there she made her way to Wuthering Heights, where she met Hareton.
[10:31.73] He showed her the fairy cave and other places, and it seemed she had very much liked him until the time when she took him for a servant and he called her witch.
[10:46.08] She, who had always been darling, and queen, and angel to all around her, to be so shockingly insulted by a stranger.
[10:59.27] It was all I could do to persuade her not to tell her father about it.
[11:05.36] If he ever finds out I let you go to that house, I told her, I shall have to leave.
[11:15.01] Catherine couldn't bear the thought and promised never to tell.
[11:21.40] She would keep her word, I knew, for after all, she was a sweet little girl.